1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a plasma display panel (PDP), and more particularly, to an apparatus and method thereof for discharging a PDP display with a time-lag thereby reducing the instantaneous power consumption.
2. Description of the Related Art
Plasma displays have emerged as one of the dominant flat-panel display technologies. PDPs used for personal computers have proven to be small, light, and highly efficient. The term PDP refers to an electronic display device in which neon light emitted by applying a voltage between positive and negative electrodes while a gas such as Ne+Ar or Ne+Xe is filled in a hermetically sealed space between a front glass and rear glass partition. PDP displays have been successfully used over a very wide range of products. For example, PDPs have been used for factory automation (FA), ticket vending machines, and as an oil gauge in a gas station.
FIG. 1 shows the structure of the sub field and the television field of a plasma display panel.
Each of the pixels comprising an image should be discharged in order to display the image on the PDP. Conventional PDP displays simultaneously discharge all of the pixels comprising the display. High power on the order of 200 W (in the case of a 42 inch screen) should be applied to the panel in order to simultaneously discharge all of the pixels.
In accordance with conventional technology, one field of a television screen includes eight sub fields in order to show the brightness of an image displayed on the screen. As shown in FIG. 1, one sub field is comprised of a blank period, an erase period, an address period, and a sustain period. The respective pixels which constitute the screen display are simultaneously discharged, thus consuming significant power during the sustain period in which an image is substantially displayed on the PDP.